I can't begin to tell you how awesome this commercial is. At first I thought it was going to be some kind of stop motion animation with dancing Rolo pieces, but when the cheesy costumed characters popped out of the giant Rolo package I was totally surprised. This is just proof that big budgets and special effects do not improve commercials, cheesy dancing chocolate pieces are all you need.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

I really want to come up with a better name for this new regular Wednesday event where we review a Japanese sweet treat. Our friends at oyastucafe.com once again provided us with this week's treat, and they deserve to have an awesome title for helping us out. Maybe I could call this our "Weekly Japanese Sweet Treat", or "Fun, Strange, Tasty, Japanese Review". I have to give it some thought, but I'm also welcoming any suggestions you might have.

All of these reviews are brought to you by our really good friends at oyastucafe.com, and if you want to buy anything you see being reviewed for this special weekly review visit them and enter the code "candycritic" to get yourself a nice discount too.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Our candy stash/collection of treats that need to be reviewed, is officially out of control. It's pretty much the greatest problem one could ask for. We're working hard to eat... I mean organize all of these candies and post reviews. We will stagger many of them, but I think a few review-a-thons are in the near future. Also, if you're a candy company that either has, or wants to, send us something to review, don't worry, you get priority.

We're planning a trip to Scotland and the Norther part of England later this summer, and we want suggestions on what's not to be missed as far as treats and meals go. We have a rough idea about places we want to see, but we also have a lot of time to just wonder since we have a car.

Finally, this week is going to be a week of cleaning up some loose ends here at Candy Critic. I've got a few articles I want to work on, and we have to organize all of these reviews that need to be finished. Hopefully this week of cleaning up will pay off in the near future. I'll most likely post lots of pictures of this clean up experience on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Since my Swiss isn't that great, I'm not really sure what "Toblerone" really means. I know that the first part "Tobler" is the name of the creator Theodor Tobler, but the "one" (pronounced more like own without the "w" sound) is a big mystery to me. I also wonder when the last time someone had a bar named after them. Why do we have to give all of our treats descriptive or wacky names? Two mysteries that won't stop me from enjoying this Toblerone, but might make me spend a lot of time on Wikipedia this morning.

While I'm pretty sure this isn't any kind of official commercial for Whoppers candy, it is really sweet. It's very simple, but it also makes me think about eating candy, and the wonderful joy of finding one last piece at the bottom of the box/bag. There's also the sadness of dropping that last piece on the ground and deciding if how dirty the floor is and wondering if I can still eat it.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

I asked Allison to name her favorite chocolate bar from her childhood, and she came up with Sweet Marie. I'm fairly certain that most people don't even know what a Sweet Marie is, unless you grew up in Canada. I can tell you that it's a pretty unique treat, and from what I know, it's still available just about anywhere in Canada.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

We've decided that every Wednesday we're going to post a new Japanese candy review. It all started with our friends at oyatsucafe.com offering to send us a bunch of great treats to review. Then they also added that they'll give each of our readers that orders from them a discount by simply putting the word "candycritic" in the discount box when you order. So for the next little while we'll be sampling a lot of fun Japanese candy, if you want to try some yourself, head over to oyatsucafe.com, pick some up, and get a discount while you're at it.

Monday, June 17, 2013

This week we're starting a new feature on the blog. Every Wednesday we'll be reviewing a new Asian treat graciously donated to us from our friends at oyatsucafe.com. Some might say that our goal is to make sure we have the widest variety of treats reviewed on the site, but I'm pretty sure that the goal is to make sure I eat something really strange on a regular basis. No matter what the reasons, not only will we have a new Asian review every week, but you (our loyal readers) are entitled to a discount from oyatsucafe.com and all you have to do is enter "candy critic" in the discount section of their online form.

Last week we also received a whole bunch of South African treats from our friend CJ, and we're going through it and setting up some awesome reviews. I'm thinking a South African review-a-thon might be in our near future.

Finally, I've been thinking about classic treats that I have not yet reviewed. I realized recently that I never reviewed original Mike and Ikes (as you can see from this weeks review that has changed), but if you see a classic treat that I've missed, make sure to let me know about it.

There are a great deal of "famous" and well known candy in the world. It's a group of candies that most people might call classic candies. These are the staples of any candy fans collection of treats they've sampled. In many ways these are the treats that I try to base my reviews upon. The problem is, sometimes I don't actually get around to reviewing them. Sometimes they slip through the cracks, I've tasted them, I've just never put pen to paper and actually written a review. Mike and Ike's "Original Fruits" is just such a candy, but no more is it un-reviewed.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

I love a good pun, I also don't mind strawberry ice cream. On another note, I was watching an episode of Mad Men (season 3) and one of the characters was putting salt on his ice cream. Does anybody do this? Why would you do it?

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

In this episode of Junk Fud, our friend Mark talks with us about American Junk Food. We talk not just about treats that are made in the USA, but also treats that American's like from abroad. The United States has some pretty fascinating treats and Junk Food of their own, but they also import a whole lot.

I'm having an interesting dilemma right now. It's about a review that I'm thinking of writing for Sour Patch Kids. Sour Patch Kids is a classic candy that just hasn't made it onto my radar yet for review. That was until my friend Catherine handed me a bag of them and told me that these Sour Patch Kids were something special. As it turns out she handed me a bag of Sour Patch Kids from Ireland, and these Sour Patch Kids have 5 different flavours instead of just 4. So, do you think I should review these Irish Sour Patch Kids? What do I do when I go back home to the regular Sour Patch Kids, do I review them again? Just so you know, the extra purple ones are really tasty.

You may have noticed the lack of "Old Candy Critic Articles" being posted on Wednesdays. Well I've decided to stop posting these old articles because I've pretty much run out. There are a few that I didn't re-post, but I don't think they're really relevant to the candy world anymore. I may change my mind, but for now they'll stay in my archives. I'm looking to fill this gap with something new, I'm just not sure what that new thing will be yet. I'd like to continue to collect photos of people with candy, or maybe turn the Junk Fud podcast into a weekly thing.

Speaking of the Junk Fud podcast, this week you should keep your ears open this week for a new episode featuring our good friend Mark. We talk about classic American candy and junk food, as well as look at what international candies Americans are eating. I've also created a web page where you can find links to all of our past episodes, so if you've missed one you can always find it here.

This weeks review was pretty special, it was something I'd never tried before, it was kind of pretty, and best of all it was the creation of a small time candy maker. These elements are often the case when it comes to candy, since small candy makers are willing to take risks in an attempt to make something unique. The folks at A Secret Forest Patisserie made a lollipop that was original, but not crazy. It just worked. I could go on, but that's really what the review is all about.

Wednesday, June 05, 2013

Everybody likes to show off their awesome candy and sweet treats, right? Well I'm asking anybody that has a great picture of themselves, or a loved one, eating a tasty treat to send it to us. Once in a while I may have prizes, but for the most part you just get to share these photos and spread some sweet candy love around.

Here's Gino (a regular on the Junk Fud podcast) enjoying a treat that I don't think is appropriate to show on this site. Send Gino a message and I'm sure he'll get you a copy of this photo without the black bar.

What's so awesome about these cookies sent in by Michelle? Well the fact that they where made with an Easy Bake oven is pretty cool. I've never actually used an Easy Bake oven in my life, but if they can put out results like these, that's pretty awesome.

Lia sent in this photo of her very tasty dessert from TGI Friday's, I could really go for a cool treat right now myself. To TGI Friday's!!!!

If you'd like to share a photo of your favorite treat, while you're eating it, making it, or about to eat it, send it to chris(at)candycritic.org. Make sure that all of the photos are your own, and make sure to let us know how you came about this treat (if you bought it or made it) and how tasty it may have been.

Tuesday, June 04, 2013

Photographer Jill Greenberg took a series of portraits of children. Each one of these children is really ticked off, do you know why?

Jill Greenberg decided that it would be interesting to take candy away from children and take a few snapshots of their rage. (keep in mind that she returned the candy quickly and as she says "no harm was done".)

I can relate to these kids, I've been known to flip over stolen candy myself.

Monday, June 03, 2013

I've decided to bring back a fun little project that I started many years ago, it was called Chris Stuffing His Face. I used to post pictures on the blog of me stuffing my face with various foods that I was eating that day. Instead of posting these photos on the blog, I'm going to post these photos on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr instead. I assume that the number of followers I have will most likely decline, but since I enjoy putting lots of food in my mouth, nothing's really going to stop me.

This week we're also posting our first of many Japanese candy reviews sponsored by the folks at oyatsucafe.com. They've agreed to keep us in the loop about Japanese treats with a bunch of candies to sample, and I think it's only fair to share the love in return. They've also agreed to give any of our readers a discount with the discount code "candy critic". So you can learn a little something about a new Japanese treat, and if you think you might like it, you can buy some for yourself at a discount price.

I have a few other small projects on the go as well that I hope to post this and next week, so stay tuned.

This is to be the first of many special Japanese reviews, sponsored by our friends at oyatsucafe.com. They're not only giving us a bunch of Japanese treats to sample on a regular basis, but they're also giving all of our readers a discount if you want to buy some for yourself. Just visit their website, pick out what you like, and enter the code "candy critic". This is a great way for you guys to sample some awesome Japanese treats that you may not find where you are.